by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets are officially on the clock in the complicated Chandler Parsons situation.

A person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports that the Rockets were given Parsons' three-year, $46 million offer sheet from the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, thereby ending the brief sign-and-trade talks betweeen the two teams and giving Houston three days to match the offer on their restricted free agent. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the negotiations.

The Rockets' Parsons plan was a major component of their offseason strategy, as they made the choice to make him a restricted free agent now (which allows them to go over the salary cap to match any rival team's offer) rather than allow him to become unrestricted next summer. But while it has been widely believed that the Rockets would match any offer that came Parsons' way, it remains to be seen if this particular deal is too rich even for their blood. What's more, Parsons social media profile sent the strongest of signals that he's hoping to play for the Mavericks now, as he shared pictures of a celebration with Dallas owner Mark Cuban after he signed the offer sheet.

The Rockets are known to have reached out to representatives of other free agent small forwards on Tuesday, among them Luol Deng. The next three days will determine whether they opt for a backup plan or whether they'll bring Parsons back at this high price. Meanwhile, Houston is hoping to hear from free agent forward Chris Bosh today as well. They have a maximum-salary contract offer on the table for the former Heat forward and nine-time All-Star and want to form a Big Three of their own with Bosh, Dwight Howard and James Harden.